Update: Ely Injury

As mentioned inan earlier post, Shyra Ely tore her patellar tendon a couple weeks ago and will miss the entire 2010 Sky season. Well, on Friday, Shyra had surgery on her knee to repair the torn tendon. She’s been very active on Twitterand Yardbaker, providing pre- and post-surgery updates. Let’s catch up…

Prior to going in to surgery on Friday, Ely posted a new blog entry on Yardbarker called “Ruptured Patella Tendon“. In it she explains how the injury occurred…

I was just driving to the basket. Nothing special, I’d done this move a billion times before. I just got a rebound and I was about to go coast to coast. I gathered the ball, took my first step and there it was. I heard it. I felt it. At first, I thought I just bumped knees with someone. When I fell to the ground, I landed on my stomach. Imagine laying on your stomach with your knee bent. I remember when my knee/leg extended I couldn’t control it. That’s when I knew my knee was seriously jacked. It swelled up immediately. I couldn’t put any weight on it. This injury was unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

…as well some background info on her history of knee problems…

Like I said, I’ve been dealing with patellar tendonitis forever. I have another form called jumper’s knee. My jumper’s knee episodes usually happen if I jump, land, or make an explosive movement. I’ve been playing with this for so long that I’ve figured out ways to play comfortably. I pop ibuprofen like skittles. I stretch constantly. It takes me a lil while to get warm but once I get them warm, those suckers can go!

I’ve seen plenty of doctors. They all say the same thing. The best thing for tendonitis is rest and ice. Rest? What is that? I can’t rest, I’m a pro. I’ve got money to make. I can’t make money and rest at the same time. I had one doctor tell me that if I didn’t stop playing soon, I wouldn’t be able to play with my children. Shut up! Apparently, I have a bunch of tiny tears on my patellar tendons, they are what cause the pain and inflammation. I guess that hard step to the basket was just all my lil tendon could handle. My doctor said it was a matter of time. Honestly, that kinda made me feel better. It also may be feel better knowing that this was an old injury. I could deal with that. It lessened the shock value a lil.

This part was made me really sad…

My right knee had been giving me trouble for about a year and a half. I was playing in China this offseason and my right knee had been bothering me. I was in pain and I wasn’t having fun. I knew that I would have a long, miserable summer if my knees continued to feel horrible. So I committed to rehab and getting my knee stronger. My knees were feeling great, too! I was just telling my mom how good they felt. I was sitting down and getting up without using my arms or grabbing something to help me up. It doesn’t sound like much but if you have suffered from tendonitis, this is a milestone…lol!

That sucks! Her knee was feeling better and she was feeling great then something like this happens :-(. Also, it’s crazy how much pain pro-athletes endure on a daily basis just to continue to play the game they love. I mean, I guess I figured that players who stuck around till their mid-to-late-thirties probably experienced a significant amount of pain and nagging injuries by that point in their careers. But at 26? That’s crazy.

So, after the blog, Shyra kept tweeting away, telling us what she was up to leading up to the surgery…

Moments before going into surgery…

And, of course, post-surgery…

She even shared a pic of the surgical scar with her twitter followers…

Seriously, people, click on some of these updates and check out the pics that she’s sharing (…especially the scar!). I’d simply post the pics on here for you to see, but I believe posting other peoples’ personal pics from twitter, facebook, myspace, etc. is considered very poor blogging etiquette lol.

Lastly, yesterday, Ely posted another blog entry entitled “Surgery and Pain!” in which she talks about the pain she is experiencing and her conflicting feelings regarding pain medication. An excerpt…

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My knee is on FIIIYYYAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! My knee hurts man. LIke this might sound silly but I don’t really like taking pills. I just don’t like pills. I want to stay on a schedule if I have to take them at all. I watch intervention like I’ve seen ppl strung out on these pills. So, that’s obviously a concern.

And…

Omg yall my knee like it feels like someone lit the staples on fire…i’m so tense…my muscles are spazzing…my bathroom is in my bedroom like 8 steps away, it just took me 15 minutes to get to the bathroom and back. That was tough. That actually brought me to tears. The pain is like a hot, throbbing, aching, numbing sensation. My knee kept wanting to bend. It was so painful, it was like my quad muscle was in a knot. I’m trying to relax. Breathe, Shyra, breathe. I feel like the horrible day that my doc warned me about is happening now. I think all of the hospital meds have worn off. I haven’t felt the effects of these pills either. This ice is starting to help a lil. I really hope these pills kick in….

I’ve never been seriously injured in my life and I’ve definitely never had surgery, but damn, that just sounds terrible! Hopefully things have gotten better for Shyra the last couple days.

I also just wanna add that being able to follow Ely on Twitter and Yardbarker as she deals with this injury has been fantastic. As a fan, losing your favorite player to injury a few weeks before the season begins SUCKS big time! But, honestly, this HUUUGE blow to the team really didn’t bring me down all that much. Perhaps it’s because Shyra has such a upbeat and wonderful approach to this whole thing. Sure, it’s clear that she’s upset by the injury, but there’s something truly special and refreshing about Ely’s response to all of this. She’s has got such an amazing spirit and aura about her that is truly inspiring. Instead of viewing Ely’s injury as a loss for the Sky, I view it as a learning opportunity on how we should all face (…and overcome) adversity. It’s kind of weird because, when a player gets injured, they’re the ones who are supposed to be lifted up and supported by their fans. And yet, in this situation, it’s Ely that is inspiring us and lifting us up. Even in injury, she’s one of the few bright spots for the Sky in the midst of a particularly depressing off-season. Thank you, Shyra! I hope she was serious when she told a fan on twitter that she’d probably make it out to Chicago for some Sky games this season cuz she is truly someone that I’d love to meet.

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**Update ** I’m editting this post becasue I just came across this article containing this quote from Ely at the end…

“I plan on keeping track of the Sky and cheering them on all the way!”

That made me smile :-). I guess everyone doesn’t hate us and not everyone is desperately trying to get away! Yay!